Development of immunochromatographic tests for simple diagnosis of human gnathostomiasis caused by Gnathostoma spinigerum    Gnathostomiasis is a parasitic infection caused by the third stage larvae of the helminthes Gnathostoma spp., and is found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. It is a food-borne zoonosis and is endemic in areas where people eat raw freshwater fish or shellfish, especially Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia, Japan, and increasingly Latin America, particularly Mexico. The common clinical features include an intermittent cutaneous or subcutaneous migratory swelling that may persist for many years. In some cases, the parasite can enter other tissues such as the liver, and the eye, resulting in vision loss or blindness, and the nerves, spinal cord, or brain, resulting in nerve pain, paralysis, coma and death.

In this project, we propose to study to produce a recombinant protein from a specific antigen and/or synthesize a specific peptide which will be used as a specific antigen of G. spinigerum and to develop a highly specific and sensitive immunochromatographic test for gnathostomiasis.